


If You’re Sure

by sanctuary_for_all



Series: Building Something [1]
Category: 9-1-1: Lone Star (TV 2020)
Genre: Developing Relationship, Feels, Fluff, I'm terribly afraid this is only the first of many Carlos/T.K. fics I will end up writing, M/M, Missing Scene, These boys fill me with so many feelings
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-03-11
Updated: 2020-03-11
Packaged: 2021-02-28 18:47:37
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,015
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23101948
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/sanctuary_for_all/pseuds/sanctuary_for_all
Summary: He was fine.Okay, so he wasn’tfine. Carlos was seriously considering stopping by the station on his day off and asking if they needed his help anywhere, which his pá always said was a sure sign a man needed to get his head examined.(Missing Tarlos scene from the "9-1-1: Lonestar" season 1 finale)
Relationships: Carlos Reyes/TK Strand
Series: Building Something [1]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1852441
Comments: 10
Kudos: 364





	If You’re Sure

He was fine.

Okay, so he wasn’t _fine_. Carlos was seriously considering stopping by the station on his day off and asking if they needed his help anywhere, which his dad always said was a sure sign a man needed to get his head examined. Normally when he was feeling this restless he’d call Michelle, see if her team could use a warm body to help with post-crisis clean-up, but when he’d finally gotten through to her he’d found out the whole story about Iris. Clearly, her entire day was booked. He could still ask her crew, but that… that smacked of desperation.

And he was fine. Well, mostly fine. He’d stopped by the hospital, lurking just long enough to make sure T.K. would be okay, then made himself leave before he gave in to the pressure in his chest and tried to talk to him. Tried to suggest that they could still be friends while T.K. worked some things out.

They could be – if his stupid heart didn’t keep getting involved, hanging out with T.K. would be the easiest thing in the world – but it wouldn’t be a good idea. He was pretty sure T.K. would realize he was meant to be a fire fighter – or if not, maybe an EMT – but there was nothing that said he’d have the same realization about Carlos. Nothing that said there would be anything _to_ realize. Maybe they really were meant to just be two ships passing in the night.

Maybe if he kept telling himself that, the thought wouldn’t hurt so damn much.

Carlos eventually volunteered himself with a clean-up crew just to give himself something to do with his hands. He was putting up barricades when a call came in, and habit had him answering without thinking about it. Either Michelle was calling him with an update, or his family had seen him on the news and was calling to check in. Hell, maybe things were bad enough that they actually needed him at the station. “Officer Reyes speaking.”

An indrawn breath. “Carlos?”

The sound of someone’s voice should definitely not be able to reach into a person’s chest like that. It was probably unhealthy. “T.K.” He cleared his throat, trying to chase all the emotion out of it. “Everything go okay at the hospital?”

“Fine. Doctors just put in a few more stitches.” T.K.’s voice was light, just like it had been at lunch. “You know, in case I decide to try to pull anyone else out of a flooding bus.”

“Probably a good idea.” Carlos’s chest hurt, like there was a rock lodged in it. He cleared his throat again, even though he knew it wouldn’t do any good. “Listen, I’m glad you’re okay, but I’ve got to get back to—”

“I take it all back.”

The words came out in such a rush that it took Carlos a second to process them. Once he did, he went absolutely still. “Take back what?” he asked quietly, the words barely a breath.

“You don’t have to accept it, and it doesn’t have to change things if you don’t want it to.” T.K.’s voice was brimming with emotion, enough that it made Carlos’s own throat tighten. “But I take back every single thing I said at lunch. All of it.” This time, it was T.K.’s turn to clear his throat. “Okay, maybe not about Boba Tea or Brad Pitt. I am absolutely right about both those things, and one day you will figure that out.”

Carlos couldn’t help but smile, even though his eyes were stinging. “There is no such thing as tasty snot, T.K. It doesn’t exist.”

“I’ll teach you.” There was a moment of silence, suddenly heavier than anything else in the conversation. “But I was wrong about a few things. Like when I said I didn’t know what I wanted to do with my life.” He swallowed. “Or who I wanted to be with.”

Carlos closed his eyes, warmth and light exploding in his chest like fireworks. “Yeah?”

“Yeah.” T.K.’s voice softened, warm with affection. How much had he heard in that single word? “Any chance you’re free for dinner?”

Carlos let out a breath. “I might be.” His voice was rough. “Didn’t eat much at lunch. Some asshole talked me into going to a juice bar where they served snot in a glass.”

T.K. laughed, and somehow it sounded even sweeter than it had the first time Carlos heard it. “I heard about that guy. Well, how about I make up for that asshole by buying you dinner? I promise, there will be no snot involved.”

In the long run, this was probably a terrible idea. Despite that, Carlos was quite sure an armed gunman wouldn’t be enough to stop him from saying yes. “I think I could manage that.”

“That’s really good to hear.” The sudden thickness in T.K.’s voice made the stinging in Carlos’s eyes a thousand times worse. “Can you meet me at the station? I’m gonna tell the crew I’m coming back, but I’ve got to come clean about the substance abuse and O.D. first. Just in case they want to take a vote or anything.”

The instinct to comfort T.K. came as natural as breathing. “They won’t care. I don’t know the 126 all that well yet, but they all seem to really like you for some strange reason.”

“Yeah.” There was a smile in T.K.’s voice, warm enough that Carlos could practically feel it. “I’ve had really good luck with that today.”

They ended the call soon after that, and Carlos tucked his phone away and swiped his knuckles across his eyes. When he opened them again, another volunteer was giving him a fond look. “Everything okay with your sweetheart?” she asked, the Texas drawl thick in her voice.

Carlos smiled at her, breathing more easily than he had in awhile. “Yeah.” His voice was only a little rough. “I really think it is.”

**Author's Note:**

> Come check out my [original fiction,](https://jennifferwardell.wixsite.com/mybooks) my [blog,](http://jennifferwardell.blogspot.com) or say hi to me on [Tumblr](http://sanctuaryforalluniverses.tumblr.com)!


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